Revealing that Politico explicitly says its goal is to drive conversation among DC elites — not to inform the public.

**

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Jim VandeHei at the 1:00 minute mark

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Tina Brown: News has lost all integrity

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Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ) has a gay son, but refuses to back gay marriage.

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His son makes a its gets better video http://t.co/Blr7nNJCsL

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Cardinal Dolan: Church needs better outreach to gays

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Prop 8 & DOMA Late night round-up

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Egypt’s Jon Stewart still getting laughs amid turmoil

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Bassem Youssef, often referred to as the Jon Stewart of that country, spoke to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour for an exclusive interview about the ordeal. Rather than back off the critiques of President Mohammed Morsi that have made the target on an investigation, Youssef appeared to strengthen his attacks against the Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Youssef told Amanpour that prosecutors had him watch clips from The Program, a Daily Show-esque comedy satire that he hosts, and “answer questions, line by line, phrase by phrase and joke by joke.”

He insisted, “I’m not intimidated, I’m just exhausted by this,” adding, “so I’m not going to let this drain me. I’m just going to continue and continue with the show, continue with the same high tone of the show. I’m not going to back down.” He described the laws being used to prosecute him “ridiculous,” saying “these are actually the foundations of a fascist regime.”

As for the real Jon Stewart, Youssef said that they have been in touch since he appeared as a guest on The Daily Show last June. “Maybe he will talk about me on the show,” he said, before waving to the camera and saying, “Hi, Jon.”

Robotic dragonflies could be the next explorers on Mars, and a new design is already buzzing around on Earth. Developed by Festo, the mechanical insect exploits the unique mechanics of four-winged flight, allowing it to fly in all directions, hover in mid-air and glide without beating its wings (see video above). Each wing’s motion can be fine-tuned by controlling its amplitude, flapping frequency and thrust – which is achieved by adjusting its tilt and twist. The team says a smartphone can act as a remote control to put the dragonfly almost anywhere in a given space. Although it appears to be considerably larger than a real dragonfly, the robot is light thanks to a carbon-fibre frame and flexible polymer shell. That structure holds a microcontroller, mechanical components, sensors and wireless modules, showing how different functions can be integrated and miniaturised

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Entertainment Tonight interview with FLOTUS part I

Starts at minute 1:20-4:20

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part II

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In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press.

Later, the President will depart the White House en route Denver, Colorado. The departure from the South Lawn and arrival at Buckley Air Force Base are open press.

While in Denver, the President will deliver remarks at the Denver Police Academy where he will continue asking the American people to join him in calling on Congress to pass common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. The President will also meet with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the new measures the state recently put in place, including closing loopholes in the background check system to keep guns out of the hands criminals and others who should not have access to them. There will be a pool spray at the top of the President’s roundtable meeting. The President’s remarks are open to pre-credentialed media.

Later in the afternoon, the President will depart Denver, Colorado en route San Francisco, California. The departure from Buckley Air Force Base and the arrival at San Francisco International Airport are open press.

In the evening, the President will deliver remarks at two DCCC events at private residences. These events will be print pool coverage for remarks only.

The President will remain overnight in San Francisco, California.

11:00AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

Oval Office

Closed Press

11:55AM THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews

Good morning Alycee,
Sorry I missed your note. I was away for the whole weekend visiting family (forgot to take my iPad)…… No, to tell the truth, conveniently forgot. I should have been reading and studying. I got my DVD from Amazon that I ordered “Standing in the Shadows of Motown”. It just touched my heart that the Funk Bros. did not get the respect and money they deserved.
I just saw the video LL posted above of ET’s clip of Motown. I am having second thoughts because Diana Ross was not all that to me(my opinion). I preferred Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Gladys Knight (my opinion….again) . I do not want to spend so much money on tickets if the show is mainly centered around Barry and Diana. I would rather go and see the “Pit” in person where all the music was created.
Did see Tyler Perry’s movie, “Temptation” with sister/ sister friends. The movie has a life lesson in the end. The actors were really great. Except Kim Kardashan…. She actually played herself in the movie and she could not pull that off. She has no talent on screen. She would have been more convincing is she had played the ” temptress.” It was not my choice……three against one.

“LDS, pains me to say this as I am one who just loves the Motown sound; however, the museum is just OK. The tour is guided and even though the museum wasn’t crowded and there were only six on our tour, the docent rushed through — didn’t really give you time to look at the pictures/artifacts or read the few placards. I was disappointed. I contrasted that with my visit to the Stax Museum in Memphis a year earlier. First time I ever danced and sang my way through a museum. The tour was self guided, you could stay as long as you wanted — I’m a person that reads/looks at everything. I was so slow in going through that at closing time, I hadn’t completed the tour. They stamped my receipt and I went back the next day at no additional cost.

While you are in Detroit, be sure to visit the African American Museum; it’s impressive.”

Maryl1: I know…..I am there so often, it feels like #1.
I tell myself, “The last shall be first.”
Sometimes it eases the pain……other times I rush over and “heads up” to a history making event in full swing. I missed AF-1 taking off, landing. He’s back at the WH….DJ Dudette serenades all night until the wee hours….I’m all right until the next time it repeats itself.

Hey there O peeps!! Another great getting up day on tap for TODdies everywhere!! While attention was on PBO going 2 for 22 on the basketball court. I am more interested in his most esteemed Nov. 6th stat… 2 for 2 all net.

Good Morning TODer’s. The Politico video is a hoot. They are the most partisan media out there and try to hide it. Good Postings Lovelyplains.
Have a good day Chips & all the rest rest of you lovely people.

On April 25, President Barack Obama will be united with his four living predecessors in Dallas for the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University, officials confirmed Tuesday.

According to White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest, both Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be on hand when the 43rd President’s library and museum are dedicated. The last time all five met was in January 2009 before Obama was sworn in, in a meeting and lunch hosted by Bush in the Oval Office for the members of the “world’s most exclusive club.”

My heart goes out to President Obama & our First Lady to have to go to Dallas for this opening. GWB is shit and will always be shit. Sorry for the language, I look at that man and want to upchuck all over him.

“world’s most exclusive club,”
My arse…..they should arrest his dumb ass and throw shoes at him.
How can anyone erase that memory out of your mind? And a library and museum are being dedicated, for what?
Are they going to remake history for his dumb ass? We will not know the full extent of this evil dummy until after he is dead…physically, I mean.

Tina Brown is very much part of the problem with our media. The fact is that even long before Arianna Huffington, Tina Brown has spearheaded much of the destruction and dearth of the media she laments in this Politico piece that’s posted here. To showcase or to quote this woman who hates and constantly disrespects PBO and Mrs Obama here is plain weird.
Cardinal Dolan too. What a homophobic phony!

Strong majorities of Americans say they favor stricter gun laws, including an assault-weapons ban and universal background checks for private gun sales, according to a new national Morning Joe/Marist poll.

Favoring job creation over deficit reduction
Turning to the economy and the deficit, the Morning Joe/Marist survey shows that Americans – by nearly a 2-to-1 margin – want President Barack Obama and Congress to make job creation their top priority (64 percent) instead of deficit reduction (33 percent).
Those who prefer Washington’s political leaders to emphasize job creation include 76 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of Republicans; a narrow majority of Republican respondents (51 percent) want the focus to be on deficit reduction.
Also, Obama edges congressional Republicans by four percentage points, 44 percent to 40 percent, on the question of who has a better approach to deal with the federal budget deficit.

But the president’s approach to deficit reduction – calling for a combination of spending cuts and increased tax revenues – is more popular than the Republicans’ cuts-only approach.

Oh please, I’m going to call bullshit on Tina Brown. She claims the media has lost all its integrity and news is now about numbers instead of content. She is the problem. She’s a gossip hound who isn’t interested in news but rumors and salacious beltway media driven crap.

She’s a classic example of the disease that has infested those who call themselves journalists or reporters. She doesn’t seek out truth. She isn’t there to highlight stories of importance. She isn’t there to make sure peoples stories are getting told. Nooooooo…..she’s there because she’s corrupt and rotten to the core.

Herpes has a better PR team than the nonsense Tina Brown churns out everyday.

I don’t know about rotten to the core because I don’t know her personally but I agree that she and her cohorts are the problem. You could see this coming in the 90’s. Peter Jennings used to do an excellent job of letting Americans know what was going on overseas. Things other than violence and natural disasters. Then it all change. The time allotted to overseas was cut down to nothing and all of a sudden the news media became a substandard version of Entertainment Tonight.

What’s happening now imo is they are waking up too late to the fact that we don’t need them anymore. The information is out there to be had from an incredible variety of sources. They’re really going to get a bigger shock when Al-Jazeera gets on their playing field. Some may decide to turn things around. Others will see their viewership decline even further. Good.

Knock wood LL. If they stay true to themselves Beltway media is in real trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few FOX viewers change their brand. It’s like Hillary Clinton told Congress a few years ago. People are starved for real news.

Good Morning Lovely Plains and thank you for the informative roll-out for today’s Rise & Shine. I appreciated the way you highlighted the part of videos that are most pertinent, especially for those of us with no interest in movie stars. 😀 I notice from today’s schedule that I have enough time to have breakfast, hit the road out of town, and if I hurry get back to hear the President in Denver. I so love to use PBO’s schedule to organize my days. 😛

Noticed you on top there, Vetivera; good work! Have a good Wednesday!

Morning TODobots! It is a Beautiful dDay in the neighbourhood, or it will be if we so will it. 😉

the Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the U.N. General Assembly, 154 to 3, though there were many abstentions. The United States was part of the majority.

The ATT’s purpose is not about consumer access to firearms or individual ownership of guns, but rather, setting controls on the international gun trade based on “whether will be used to break humanitarian law, foment genocide or war crimes, abet terrorism or organized crime or slaughter women and children.”

As Secretary of State John Kerry explained, “It will help reduce the risk that international transfers of conventional arms will be used to carry out the world’s worst crimes, including terrorism, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

So, which three countries opposed the treaty? Well, that’s an interesting story.

There were 23 abstentions, including major powers like China and Russia, citing some ambiguities in its provisions. Then again, if the treaty goes into effect in a few years, even countries reluctant to ratify it will be affected as a new international norm takes shape.

That said, Iran, North Korea, and Syria — arguably the nation’s three largest pariah states — took a stand against the Arms Trade Treaty.

What’s interesting about that? At a certain level, nothing, given the expectations surrounding these three countries, but what I find noteworthy is that the National Rifle Association and Republican policymakers are taking the Iranian, North Korean, and Syrian side of the argument.

The NRA and other gun groups strongly opposed the treaty, capitalizing on conservative myths that it would infringe on Second Amendment rights by undermining the country’s sovereignty. But the gun lobby’s real opposition to the treaty is probably economics. The US is the world’s leading arms exporter, and gun dealers aren’t eager to be required to report weapons exports that may wind up in the hands of warlords or terrorists overseas.

GOP senators like Rand Paul (Ky.) are still repeating the false claim that abiding by the treaty would lead to an international registry of American gun owners and “full-scale gun CONFISCATION.” Conservatives have also argued that the treaty violates the Second Amendment by recognizing the rights of governments, but not their citizens, to self-defense, even though it has no international policing mechanism and explicitly recognizes the “inherent right of all States to individual or collective self-defense.”

The threatening callers all referred to gun control legislation that Maloney introduced on Friday, which would require weapons owners to hold liability insurance, similar to what car owners are required to purchase. “It’s not unusual to have calls saying they don’t like the bill. You get calls in support and opposition,” she said. “But . . . this is unsettling.”

Despite the death threats, Maloney said she is moving forward with the bill, which she called “common sense.”

so I was diagnosed with planar fasciitis last year (inflamed heel pads) and I’ve finally decided to give up my NIKE obsession & invest in some tennis shoes that will provide more comfort to my feet. three brands have come up in my research: New Balance, Ascis, & Saucony. I’ve never worn or tried on any of these, so I’m taking an informal poll of my peeps to decide on which shoe ima ultimately get. I plan on trying them all if I can find a store that sells them all, but I just wanted to get a feel from people who have worn theses brands or currently wear these brands on why they like em. so what do y’all think about Ascis, New Balance & Saucony?

Lamh I am so sorry and will pray for you. I’ve been dealing with this off and on for way too long myself and it is no joke. Went to a podiatrist recently and that turned out to be a big waste of time and money. I’d be interested also to hear what people recommend.

I’ll jump in —have a little something to add that may help—ortho dr. taught me to do stretching exercises daily—-both hands against wall, one leg at a time outstretched behind you—-straight—-and hold—heel on floor. Do multiple times. Then hands against wall—- both knees slightly bent—-tilting forward—-heels on floor—and hold. Plus put the gel heel inserts into all your shoes. Helped me and haven’t had any troubs recently, knock on wood.

Hiya lamh36. I run on average 3-4 miles a day. I started with New Balance, moved to Ascis Gel Equation 2, and have now settled for Saucony Guide 6. With any shoe, it’s gonna depend on how you plan to use them, walking, jogging, running, or cross training. I suggest you go to a sports shoe store that will look at your gait and make the proper recommendation. Also, very important to know is if you pronate or not. That is, how your foot turns in or out when you walk/run. That will determine the shoe type you need, regardless of the company you choose. It will tell you how much stabilization you need.

Again, a good sporting shoe store will have you get on a treadmill and actually video or watch you in real time. I was surprised to find that I had this crazy hitch kick turn out thing going on with left foot, and an unusual load bearing, heel strike with my left foot. I swear by Saucony for what I do, though they do tend to widen in the heel after some use. Tightening the laces only causes hot spots across the front of my foot, so I figure that’s my sign for a new pair. Also, after a while I’ve used Dr. Scholl’s inserts to boost the cushioning.

ETA: Just an FYI, but I also have high arches, which means any shoe without arch support will not be good. the one time I tried New Balance I vaguely remember being uncomfortable around the arch area, but that was before the heel pain started.

I would consult the physician who diagnosed your problem. Depending on what caused the plantar fascia would determine the cure. The high arch thing makes me think you may need a different shoe altogether. I have very, very flat feet (no arch) and the last thing I should do is heel stretches. In my case, excessive stretching of the plantar fascia, due to over-pronation (flat feet), causes plantar fasciitis. I didn’t know a person with high arches would also have that condition.

So I would just check on it with the expert.

Google foot pronation images and see which one best fit your case.

It sounds like you may need a shoe with maximum cushioning. You get extra arch cushioning to protect your feet in ‘motion control’ shoes. You can check a shoe’s cushioning by twisting the shoe — twist the heel of the shoe toward your body and the toe away from you. If it’s super bendy, the shoe probably doesn’t have enough cushioning to support your foot.

Again check with a sporting shoe expert, (not the kids in the mall), or a podiatrist/ortho to get the best advice.

This coach was a disgrace, how in the world did the athletic director think that the little slap on the wrist they gave him was right. Once that tape got out they fired him and that was the right thing to do.

Having interesting back and forth with a gun lover on twitter. Started with his responding to my tweet about NRA not really caring about 2nd Amendment. Although he and I are obviously disagreeing, I must say he has been quite civil so far. We’ll see if it continues.

I got involved similarly on another topic a while back, with a “conservative” (not a PBO fan). Since it remained civil, he quickly got bored and went away! But I’m hoping your dialogue continues and you pass on some rational thinking to the gun lover. 🙂

Finally stole a few minutes and wanted to say hello. Miss you guys. I’ve been lurking on the run if you know what I mean. Just had a heated discussion about Dr. Ben Carson…Uncle Ben. It’s as if he didn’t exist until he became a conservative…sickening! And about that brain-mapping…they already think the President hypnotized the nation, like he’s Svengali or somebody…so that’ll go over in a real big way. I can hear it now…Obama is gonna brainwash us, then take all our guns, before he sends in the drones. 🙂

Oh, and what is this about establishing a state religion? Thought we believed in separation of church and state.

Just the mention of state religion goes to show you that they have nothing to worry about on the brain mapping issue. First, you have to have a brain, before it can be mapped or washed. It’s a pity that we can’t just implant a ‘normal’ chip in them, but talk about the body rejecting foreign objects.

Go for it whenever LL, I am about to head to campus. PBO delivers remarks at 5:00 EST so if you post now it will stay fresh for a few hours before Chips I’m sure will do a Denver post. I know she has a draft already, so I would just post it now actually.